Machine-to-Machine (M2M, also called Machine-Type Communication) devices that communicate exclusively via a cellular network are increasingly common for a wide variety of applications. Many such devices are intended to operate autonomously and without any physical interaction from a human being (user or engineer) once installed. This creates problems when the cellular network connectivity and/or service is limited or unavailable. Many M2M device use packet-switched communication and this causes additional complexity, especially when the cellular network only provides packet-switched connectivity as an overlay to a circuit-switched architecture (for instance, as in 2G and 3G networks).
Cellular devices have been designed to operate using a single cellular network in a specific country. Their subscription information, normally stored in the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) part of the M2M device, configures the device accordingly. When no connection to this cellular network is available, the M2M device ceases to provide any communication. M2M devices can be provided over a wide geographical area and coverage of a single cellular network may be limited in some areas.
To address this problem, M2M devices that can operate using more than one cellular network in a country have been developed. Generally, the SIM of the M2M country originates from a country different from the country in which the M2M device is operating or the SIM does not define a country of origin. The M2M device then takes advantage of roaming agreements between the network operator that issued the SIM and operators of cellular networks in the country in which the M2M device is operating.
These devices have further problems, because the number of possible configurations for the device increases significantly. Ensuring that the device can operate autonomously without damaging itself or the cellular network with which it wishes to communicate is a challenge.